The United States Congress is made up of two groups. They are the House of Representatives and the Senate. These groups of people write, talk about, and pass bills. Every state elects two people to go to the Senate. These are called the senators. They serve terms of six years. Tim Johnson and John Thune are the senators from South Dakota.

          Tim Johnson is from eastern South Dakota. He lived in Canton, Flandreau, and Vermillion. He is a Democrat. His term will be over in 2014.  John Thune is from Murdo. He is a Republican. He became a senator from South Dakota in January 2005. His term will be over in 2016.

South Dakota has only one person in the House of Representatives. The number of representatives a state has is based on the population of the state. Large states have many representatives; small states have fewer. Representatives serve terms of two years. Kristi Noem is the representative from South Dakota. She is a Republican. She and her family have a ranch near Castlewood. Her term will be over in 2012.